Never
by silfursvik
Summary: Vampires no longer live in secret, and Humans are nothing but food and pets to them. Bella has been running from vampires for 3 years, until Jasper Whitlock captures her.
1. Chapter 1

**The new and improved story of Never! different storyline, plot, whatever, and much better!  
>P.S. If you don't hear from me for a while, know that we're expecting Hurricane Irene on sunday! don't know whats gonna happen, but the worst would be that my house goes bye-bye! (our house is not very strong on its foundation)<br>ENJOY!**

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Bella, let's go," I heard Jessica say to me. "We have to hurry, I think they're coming."

Right. _They. _That was basically what we called all vampires. The kinder word, other than _leeches, bloodsuckers, _and so on. Oh, did I ever _despise _those creatures. Loath them. Burn in the seventh circle of hell to all vampires, that's what I say. To the lowest depths of misery and pain and fire to all vampire. Damn them all.

And it was vampires who were forcing us, humans, to run. Run and hide, run and hide, that's been my life since I was fifteen. And I was seventeen now. Fortunately, vampire intend on keeping the human race around, seeing as how they need us to survive themselves. Actually, the human population has barely even dropped in number.

But vampires do love to hunt us humans. Apparently, vampires are the superior race and humans are made to be slaves, for vampire uses only.

Three years I have been running from vampires. Three long years. Me, and a group of people I had become fairly close with. Jessica, Lauren, Mike, Tyler, Eric, and Angela. I was a bit of a loner, and would be just fine by myself like I was for a whole year, but company was nice sometimes. And the group easily accepted me, so I joined them. Together we run.

And we're on the move again. You have to keep moving. You also have to be very careful in everything you do. Vampires are natural born hunters. They're good at what they do. They'll find you eventually. That's if you're not smart. You have to always cover your trail.

We live out in the most dense, isolated part of the forest in Forks, Washington. Not many humans live out there. Actually, not many humans are still free. The vampire never stop hunting. And I mean never, since they don't have to sleep some are on a 24/7 search job.

It's a hard life for a human.

But if you want to survive, you have to deal with it.

And I've learned.

So anyway, I quickly went deeper into the cave and help everyone gather what little things we had. We made sure not to leave a thing behind. Any little thing can be made evidence to who we are and where we're going. The only thing we can do to cover our scent is to touch as little as possible and hope that rain will come soon, and by the looks of the dark clouds above us, a nice storm was on its way.

That's maybe one of the best things about living in Forks, the rain. It rains almost all the time, and I used to despise this little town just for that. But now it's the best thing we have. The humans in Forks have got to be the humans with the most chance of survival just because of that. Because the rain will come and wash away our scents.

With backpacks slung over our shoulders, our group headed quickly and quietly out of the cave, on to find a new temporary shelter.

"Bella," Mike said softly, stopping me, "are you sure you can do this?"

Everyone paused where they were to look at me with concern.

I nodded and gave him an assuring smile, my heart warm to know they all cared about me. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me. We better get moving, yeah?"

He nodded solemnly. "Alright, let's move out."

We followed Jessica and Mike's lead as they tried to follow the half-washed away map that had accidently been left in the rain on day. We didn't have another map, but we made do with this one. We don't exactly know where we are, per say, but we haven't exactly gotten lost yet. We're still in Forks, that much we know. We can't hear any roads, any civilization, anywhere.

We walked for a long time. I was very alert. Angela was definitely the worry-wart of the group. By this point in time, we've all learned to ignore her repetitive line of, "Did you hear that?" and, "What's that over there?" and, "Guys, I think we're being followed," and we never were, by the way.

We walked, and walked, and walked, and I soon felt like I was dying. I needed to stop. So I did. I just couldn't go anymore. It was horrible, I felt like I had no control of my body. I just stopped, sat myself on the ground, and went into a coughing fit. Everyone stopped, turned around, and ran back towards me, each one expressing their concern for me at the same time. I kept on coughing and waved them off with my other hand.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I told them when I could speak again. I sighed and looked around at all of them. "I am so sorry, guys."

I had been sick for so long. I was pretty sure it was pneumonia from the symptoms. It was really hurting me to breath, I was coughing a lot. I was also wearing a lot more clothes than everyone else was because I got cold easily, but right now I was sweating. It was just getting worse. But what could I do? I had no medicine. Really, I was only slowing down the group, and I _hated _myself for that.

"Bella, it's not your fault," Angela told me.

"Jesus, Bella," Mike said.

"We need to get you to a doctor," Tyler said.

"Like…now," Jessica said.

I shook my head. "We can't see a doctor. There's no human doctor we can go to. And do you think I'm going to go to a vampire doctor?" My sharp reply earned me sharp pain in my chest, and another round of coughs.

"You _need _medicine," they all insisted.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and meet another human with some medicines," I said.

"Or maybe you'll die because you're an idiot," Jessica snapped.

"Maybe," I agreed with a sigh.

Mike exhaled sharply. "Alright, fine, we'll have to stay here for the night until Bella gets her strength up," he said. "We made good progress today."

I grabbed his arm suddenly. "I hear water," I said.

Everyone froze, and listened carefully. Face lit up, one by one.

"Bella, you're right!" Angela said. "We must be close to the beach! We must be almost to the La Push reservation!"

When vampires took over, it was them their selves who revealed the existence and the existence of werewolves. The werewolves owned the La Push territory, and as this some sort of treaty made a long time ago, vampire can't step foot on La Push land.

I can't say we would be safe there though, because I've heard of humans being dragged off of that property. May have. Apparently, werewolves existed a long time ago, and none of them have the genetics to become werewolves anymore. They were supposedly the good guys, but they couldn't help us.

It would be _more safe _there.

But I couldn't go anywhere.

I frowned. "You guys should go. It's not safe tonight, I know it isn't. we can't stay here," I told them. "Go quickly, and I'll find you in the morning. I just can't move tonight."

They all looked at me like I lost my mind. Well, maybe it would have been better if I did lose my mind. Easier. For everyone, not just myself.

"Are you kidding me, Bella?" Eric said.

"Yeah, Bella, we're not going anywhere without you," Tyler said.

"We stick together," Angela said.

"That's right," Mike said, and without another word he dipped down to scoop me off the ground and into his arms and began carrying me onward.

"No, no, Mike," I protested weakly. "Stop, he can't carry me all the way there. We're _so not that close_. You can't do it. You're too tired and I'm too heavy."

"You're not heavy, Bella," he said, rolling his eyes, though I could hear his breath was a little ragged.

"Stop, stop," I said, but then I went on coughing, and that made him stop. "Put me down," I commanded again, and this time he did. I leaned over into a bush, coughing, because it felt like I as going to vomit. I didn't though.

"Oh my God," I heard Angela mutter.

"I'm fine," I once again insisted in a small, dry voice.

"We have to stop here," Jessica said. "We're not getting anywhere tonight. Not with Bella like this."

I frowned at them talking about me like I wasn't there.

"Alright, everyone drop your stuff," Mike ordered. "We sleep here tonight."

I felt so stupid. I felt so helpless. I felt so…just so plain horrible. Being sick was not fun. And it was hurting everyone around me.

I decided I must get a good night's sleep. I can't be like this tomorrow. Tomorrow we need to move, and I can't be so weak. I'll get everyone killed this way. I wish they would have never found me.

I'd be better off dead.

**PLEASE REVIEW!  
>LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF CHAPTER 1!<strong>

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	2. Chapter 2

**So sorry, guys, for the delay on this update! Problems with little siblings who decided to delete anything the wanted on my computer, including stories. so my progress was loss, and although i obvious recreated it, it was a little slow, but just because this is a new story and it's just getting started. ENJOY!**

I woke in the harsh light of the dawn beaming down on me. I stretched and yawned, but my big intake of breath caused my lungs to hurt and sent me coughing. I coughed into the sleeve of my jacket, trying to quiet it as much as I could. I looked around to see that I was the only on awake so far.

I was always an early-bird in the morning. I knew we really had to get going though, but I wasn't going to wake anyone. They all deserved as much rest as they can get. At the same time, I didn't want to wait for them.

I decided to go for a little walk. I wasn't going to go far, but I walked to stretch my legs. Everyone's been so fierce about me getting my rest, but maybe what I needed was a little exercise to freshen me up.

It was very cold this morning, I found myself hugging myself to try and stay warm, and I was shivering a little. I think we must have up high, because it was windy here. I didn't know how far La Push was though, I hoped it was close. If we could get there today, we might be safe.

I walked as far as I thought I couldn't, minding that I still had to walk back. I was losing the energy for this. I stopped to rest against a tree, and I closed my eyes and dreamed about the time before vampires existed. I would be at home, probably curled up on the couch with a good book, and maybe a mug of hot chocolate. If I was sick I would take medicine…all better. I dreamed I was home right now, with my mother and father, familiar faces, wrapped up in a nice warm blanket, the smell of hot soup, warmth filling my body from head to toe.

Amazing.

_"Help me."_

My eyes snapped open at once. A feeble cry for help, and meek voice calling out. I just heard it, but it was so quiet I wasn't sure it was real. I waited and listened, but the more I stood there, silent, the more I began to think that I couldn't have heard that.

Great. I'm going crazy now.

But then I heard it again. Even though this time was even softer than the first, I was so sure I heard it. I looked around. No one. I listened. Nothing. I began to get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, a very sickening feeling, a growing anxiety that was like a fist churning in my gut. Panicking suddenly, I turned to my left, ready to flee, but I tripped over something when I took my first step.

I landed on the ground with a hard thud, making me cry out a little. I rolled over and propped myself up on my elbows, looking for the thing I tripped over.

Curled up tightly on the ground, against the trunk of the tree, was a little girl. I gasped when I first saw her, scrambling back to get away. But she wasn't threatening. She had dark hair that covered her face, her knees pulled up to her chest, her head down. I couldn't see her face.

"They're coming," she said, her voice coarse and barely a whisper that I had to strain to hear. "Run. Don't let them get you. Never stop running."

She fell over, lying on the ground on her side, her hair still flopped over her face. Her arm dropped lifelessly, her hand falling palm up, her hand almost open. Her fingers loosely curled around a piece of paper.

I crawled forward quickly, moving the sleeve of her sweatshirt up so I could check the pulse on her wrist. There was no pulse. Her skin was even colder than mine. I slumped back, horrified, shocked, and for I while I just sat there and stared at her. Then I took the paper from her dead fingers, unfolded it, and lost my breath at the words written there.

_"Never stop running."_

Something very odd about the writing, too. I looked closer, analyzed, and I realized that it was written in my handwriting. Distinctly my writing.

I moved forward slowly and brushed the girl's hair from her face gently.

The girl was _me. _

I screamed, and then I opened my eyes, I was looking up at the trees. I sat up in a rush that made my head spin and my stomach flip. I was looking around at my friends, my group. Mike, Jessica, Angela….

It was just a dream?

I crawled over to the nearest bush and was violently sick. This time there was blood. Tears filled my eyes, I fought them back. "Oh God," I cried softly. "I'm going to die soon."

When I crawled back to the group, they were all getting up. I guess I was too loud.

"Bella?" Mike asked sleepily, wiping his eyes. "Bella? Damn!" He scrambled up and over to me, the first one to get to me. "Bella, what the hell is going on? Are you alright?"

I was shaking violently. "No, no, we-e h-have to go. Now. Now. We have to go. We have to…."

Mike put his arms around me, Angela took my hand. "Bella, you're okay," she said. "It's going to be alright, but you need to calm down."

I shook my head. "No, no, no, no. Listen to me. They're coming. I know they're coming. They're going to find us. We have to go now, we have to run, they'll catch us. We have to run."

"Bella, you can't run," Mike said. "There's no way. You need to rest."

"No, Bella's right," Jessica said. "We need to go. I think they're coming too. We can't be too safe, we need to keep moving. We shouldn't have even stayed here the night."

"Jessica," Angela said softly. "We need to think of Bella."

I shook my head, but no one saw me.

"I have an idea," Mike said. _Of course he did. _"We need to false lead the vampires. Since Bella is the weakest, we need to protect her first. Let Bella run to La Push, and we'll run the other way. Hopefully that will confuse the leeches. Half of us will go one way then, and we'll meet up at the end."

_Oh my God, that's a terrible plan!_

"Is everyone in for it?"

No one said anything, hesitating, thinking.

"Guys, this is our only chance," Mike said fiercely. "We all knew this was dangerous. I mean, we've been out here for three years, are we really gonna sit around and get caught now? We have to run. We have to at least try. All we can do is try our hardest. Just run really fast, okay?"

"You're right," Tyler said. "Let's do it."

"Sure," Eric said.

"We better hurry," Angela said as her and Mike helped me to my feet.

"Alright, let's go. Bella, you have to go, okay? Are you gonna be okay?"

I started to shake my head, but then I was hit with a brilliant plan. I mumbled an okay and started off in the opposite direction of La Push. Suddenly, the area was looking familiar to me. I hoped to God I knew what I was doing.

"What the hell, Bella?" Mike called.

"La Push is this way!" I said.

They hesitated behind me, but thankfully Mike began to lead the group the other way, towards La Push. I let out a weak breath in relief. Now _I _will run into the vampires. _Courage, Bella. Courage. _

_Don't stop running, don't stop running…._

My breathing was ragged, heavy, I was coughing, I felt woozy. But my feet held a stead rhythm as the pounded on the ground as I ran as fast as I could. I soon tripped though, going sprawling onto the ground, and biting my lip so I wouldn't scream. Despite my best efforts though, I moaned loudly in pain.

"Over there!" I heard someone say, not too far away.

"Shit!" I spat, getting to my feet, and following the sound and smell of saltwater as I ran. I needed to get out of the woods, I needed to find the water, the vampires were on my trail now.

I didn't dare look back as I ran, straight towards the ocean. I couldn't hear anything anymore, that scared me. As if I could outrun a vampire. They probably had their sights set on me already. They were probably looking at me through all the thickness of the trees and bushes and taking delight and amusement in my fleeing, wondering what the hell I was trying to do.

Branches smacked me in the face as I finally broke through into the sunlight. I had found the water, vast and sparkling. I came just to the edge of the cliff. The salty wind whipped around me, biting, black clouds rolling close to me. I stood there, my toes off the edge, and I looked down.

The water was black below me. It looked icy, making me grimace in the cold just thinking about touching it. It was truly unfriendly looking. Dark waves pushed up against the sides of the cliff, rolling into them, and smacking against them with sharp crashes. The height of the cliff was the least of my problems, and it was extremely high up. The big rocks at the bottom to not look so inviting either.

I thought of the phrase "_life or death"._ But looking down and watching the water explode onto the wall of the cliff all the way down there, it felt like it was "_death or death". _

Well, what does it matter? I was going to die anyway.

I took a deep breath, holding it in and holding back the coughing spasm. I closed my eyes, drew up on the balls of my feet, and jumped.

I felt the wind cut past me, I knew I was falling. I still did not open my eyes. My stomach was left at the top of the cliff. It felt like a shorter drop then I thought it would be. Then I hit the water, and I finally opened my eyes to the black waters. I kicked my legs and waved my arms furiously to get to the surface, and I finally did, coughing and sputtering, gasping for oxygen. I looked up to the top of the cliff, then feeling a smile tugging at my lips. I had did it.

That's when the current caught me.

It felt like the waves were fighting over me, jerking me back and forth between them as if determined to share by pulling me into halves. I knew the right way to avoid a riptide: swim parallel to the beach rather than struggling for the shore. Which way was the shore?

I couldn't even tell which way the surface was.

Gravity was all-powerful when it competed with the air, but it had nothing on the waves – I couldn't feel a downward pull, a sinking in any direction. Just the battering of the current that flung me around like a rag doll.

I fought to keep my breath in, to keep my lips locked around my last store of oxygen. But my lungs were screaming for air, burning for it. I was chocking on nothing.

This was it. I was going to die. I was going to drown. I _was _drowning. My natural instincts to live told me to keep swimming. But where? There was no place to swim to. The cold of the water was numbing my arms and legs. I didn't feel the buffeting so much as before. It was more of just a dizziness now, a helpless spinning in the water. I still swam though, still fought to find the surface, forced my arms and legs to move.

What was the point? I had been dying forever now, I think my time is overdue. Can't I just die already? I didn't want to fight anymore. And it wasn't the light-headedness, or the cold, or the failure of my arms as the muscles gave out in exhaustion, that made me content to stay where I was. I was almost happy that it was over. This was…oddly peaceful.

I thought briefly of the clichés, about how you were suppose to see your life flash before your eyes. I was so much luckier. Who wanted to see a rerun, anyway? My life had always sucked, it doesn't just suck now.

I was finally going to have my peace….

**Jasper POV**

I pressed my lips to the girl's and blew air into her. _Unconscious. Fucking unconscious. That's just fucking brilliant. _He lips were cold, almost no warm in her at all, and they were salty. I grimaced, keeping my hands pressing down on her chest in a fast rhythm, counting the beats. One, two, three, and blow air. It's been a minute, she wasn't breathing now, but she had a pulse. Barely a pulse, but a pulse.

She spit up water, I quickly sat her up and she vomited and spit up large amount of water. Then she was choking, but she was breathing again. Her eyes opened for a brief moment, rolled and looked at me but not seeing me, then she breathed something I didn't hear, and passed out again. I laid her back down on the sand and stood up.

Staring down at her, I wiped myself off. Wet, and dirty, and disgusting, and I did not appreciate it at all. I wiped my lips but it didn't do any good, the salty water was all over me. I nearly shuddered.

She was a pretty small girl. Too skinny, but who knew how long she had been out here, definitely not getting the nutrition she needed. She had long dark hair, fine, thin eyebrows, beautifully shaped lips though they were purple. Brown eyes. Chocolate brown. Heart-shaped face and high cheekbones, but her skin was waxy looking, no color to them.

Yet there was something about her…some light around her. She seemed fascinating. The feelings that came off her were blended and unnamable, and I don't know if it was just because she was unconscious.

"Is she going to be alright, Carlisle?" I asked.

"She's lucky," he said. "She'll be just fine. She's very near death though. She needs to be treated right away, she's very sick. Listen to that heart beat though," he mused, gazing at her in awe. "So strong, despite everything. This little one is a fighter."

"Indeed," I murmured. I crouched down next to her. "Who _are _you?"

"Her name is Bella Swan," Carlisle said.

I looked at him sharply. "You know her?"

"No. I know of her, and I know of her father who was the Chief of police in Forks. I did see her around the hospital many times, I never treated her myself. I know she's a complete medical disaster."

"Clumsy girl," I said with a smile. "How fun."

"He's right," Peter said from behind me. "Isabella Marie Swan is her name. She's seventeen, eighteen next month. She's not a runaway, she's never belonged to any vampire before."

"Interesting…."

"We better get her to the hospital first before we decide anything else for her," Carlisle said. "I need to treat her right away—"

"Wait," I commanded, standing up and turning to them. "I want her."

They were both shocked. "Um, Major, are you sure about that?" Peter asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you implying that I am not sure what I want, Peter? I don't expect stand around here and be questioned by anyone. I've told you I want this girl, so I want you to help Carlisle get anything he needs to treat her over to my house immediately, and step aside without comment."

"Of course, Major," Peter said with a nod.

I carefully took the girl into my arms, supporting her head against my arm. I quickly headed back to the main roads, back to where my car was.

_Bella. Isabella, my little one, my brave little fighter…. You're mine now. _

**Sooooooooooo... whatdaya think? :)**

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**THANKS FOR READING!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Bella POV**

I was having a flurry of the most horrible dreams, all about white demons with glowing red eyes that wanted me, and no matter how hard I fought or how fast I ran, I couldn't get away from them. I woke up to the sounds of my own screaming, my eyes snapping open. I could feel tears streaming down my cheeks as I stared up at a high golden ceiling.

Everything slowly sank into me one thing at a time. I was expecting to see the sky, painted with colors of the sunrise, and instead was a ceiling of intricate design. I should have woken up on the forest floor, dirt and leaves and grass underneath me, but instead I was lying across a soft bed with pillows under my head and covers drawn up to my chest. I looked around me, around the room I was in. I was in someone's room. Someone's very expensive-looking room. I immediately began freaking out, trying to get up, but I found that both my wrists and ankles were strapped down to the bed. I realized the sight of the IV bag with the tube traveling under the covers, which from the pinching feeling I got when I moved I could deduce was inserted into my right arm. I felt like I was going to throw up.

Then the large doors opened, and a small women walked inside. She was an older women, I would guess somewhere around forty. She wore black khaki pants and simple white shirt. She had straight black hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin color. Her features were Arabic, and when she spoke, I confirmed she was Arabic.

She smiled at me as she came over. "Isabella, wonderful to see you awake," she said. "I am so happy you're unharmed."

I wouldn't exactly say unharmed. Not yet anyway. But this confused me, and then the happenings of the previous night came to me in a sudden rush. Then last thing I remember was throwing myself off that cliff though.

Her smile slowly disappeared. "Don't look so distressed, young one. You are fine. You are alive, be glad so."

"I'd rather be dead," I said before I could stop myself.

She shook her head sadly. "Not a good thing to say. Trust me, you will be fine. You may change your mind in short time."

"Unlikely," I muttered. "Where am I? Why am I tied down?" Tears began coming again.

"Oh no, no, no," she said, fluttering over me, unsure of what to do, but then she softly wiped my cheeks. "Don't cry, don't. You're fine. You are in Master Jasper Whitlock's house. He is the sole Master of this house, of us, and he is very high ranked with the vampires. There is no reason to fear though, he is kind."

A vampire? Kind? Yeah, when I turn into a purple pig and sprout fucking wings and fly.

"You were tied down for your own good," she continued. "You were screaming and thrashing in your sleep, and trying to rip the needle out of your arm. We had to tie you down so you didn't do so. But, I have permission to take the binds off if you will lay there calm. Now, can you?"

I nodded. I didn't know if I would scream and run as soon as she untied me, or lay there motionless, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be able to move.

She took them off me, rubbing my wrists and ankles a little to relieve the strain that had been put on them. She told me her name was Alisha, and I in return told her that she could just call me Bella, Isabella was a mouthful.

"Did he catch my friends?" I whispered fearfully.

She looked confused. "Friends? I did not know you had friends with you."

"Yesterday I did."

"Oh. Well, I did not hear of any friends. You were the only one brought here, as far as I know."

"Then you wouldn't know if they were caught and sent someone else?" I asked hopefully.

"No, I would not know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I said, even though my voice cracked and more tears brimmed in my eyes. I hoped to God, prayed fiercely, that they were not caught, otherwise my efforts to keep them safe would have been in vain. I couldn't live with that if it were true.

The door opened again, and in walked a tall, young man with blonde hair and golden eyes. His white skin and unmasked beauty made it clear he was no human. I felt my heart race at the sight of him. Who was he? What the hell was he coming in here to do?

Alisha moved herself to the foot of the bed, making way. She put her hands together and gave the vampire a nod. "Doctor."

Vampire doctor? Oh, fucking great. Like I needed another reason to fear doctors.

He nodded back at her, giving a small smile. "Good morning, Alisha." He looked at me, and I uneasily moved myself back away from him until I felt my head against the headboard of the bed. "And how is our friend here? How long has she been awake for?"

"Just a few minutes, sir," Alisha said, looking at me. "I took the straps off her, she was too uncomfortable."

"That's just fine," he said. "I wouldn't want her to be uncomfortable. And how are you feeling?" he asked me then.

"Fine," I squeaked out, the only answer acceptable when a vampire asked you that.

His eyebrows pulled together slightly. "You are? Because only a few days ago, you were very near death of pneumonia and hypothermia."

_As I suspected. But…what…wait—_

"A few days?" I gasped. "How long have I been here?"

"You've been asleep in this bed nearly four days now. Your IV has been keeping you alive. I can take it out now if you can hold down solid foods, but you need to take the medicine I give you as prescribed and you must not do a lot of activity. You should stay in bed for at least the next week."

"A week?" I repeated. A week in bed. "Please take the needle out," I said.

He nodded, then helped me sit up more. He must have understood my discomfort with needles, because as he straightened my arm and got a gauze for it, he gently pushed my face away so that I was looking in the other direction and not at the needle. I took deep breathes to calm myself and on the third breath, I felt the pinch of his taking the needle out of my arm, and I shuddered as he quickly held the gauze down on it and put tape over it to hold it there. Then his cold hands released my arm, and I let it lay lifelessly beside me.

He laughed softly at me. "Bella, if you want it to move, you actually have to do that yourself, because staring at it will not do anything."

I smiled anxiously and put my arm in my lap. Looking at him again, I felt I recognized him. He seemed familiar to me, and I couldn't place the odd feeling. It made me feel stupid, but I still had to ask him.

"Do I…know you?" I asked.

He smiled faintly. "You might. I used to work at the Forks hospital. It's possible you might have seen me around, as I've seen you before."

I nodded, looking at him intently. "Yes…I-I think. I used to be in there a lot." I winced slightly, memories of my past coming back to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his golden eyebrows pulling together. "Does something hurt?"

I looked away. Yeah, something hurt. My heart hurt for everything that's happened. And there wasn't a part of my body that didn't ache. And my lungs were still burning. I was a wreck. I was lost and my mind was dead.

Was I finally—after all my fighting—giving up? Was I, at least, lapsing into submission for this life of vampire dominance? Maybe this fellow—what did Alisha say his name was? Casper? Whatever—just maybe this guy with take pity on me and kill me.

The vampire put his cold hand lightly on my shoulder, bringing my gaze back to his golden eyes. "Don't worry, Isabella. I promise you that you'll survive through all this. I don't like any of this any more than you do, but you can work through it, and in the right way you can even be content here."

"I am, Bella," Alisha said. "We could have it much worse—but look! You are being taken care of well."

"I don't want to be taken care of," I said, tears brimming in my eyes. "Why do you two want to take care of me? Why should anyone? I don't want you to care. All I've ever wanted to do was to die, can't you understand that? And I was so close…." I looked away. "I don't even know why I'm telling you both this. This is stupid." I wiped the tears that streak down my cheeks and down my nose.

"Because we care, Isabella," the vampire said.

I looked back at him, irritated. I got temporarily lost in his gaze though, prompting my next question. "Why do you have golden eyes?" I asked. I had never seen a vampire with that color in their eyes. There was only red that got darker with thirst. Was he some sort of special vampire? Or maybe not a vampire at all? Some new creature like them?

"My eyes are not red because I do not drink human blood," he said, a startling new piece of information. A vampire that didn't drink human blood? What a thing! "I never have. For the record, I much preferred the world before the existence of vampires was made known to humans. It was an easier life then, for both our kinds."

I interrupted him. "Our kinds?" I echoed sharply. "I love how eloquently you put it, doctor. Don't lump us together like that. We are nothing alike. We're humans, and you are a disgusting, bloodsucking creature that belongs in hell, and not on this world. Don't ever try to compare us."

Alisha gasped, cupping her hand over her mouth. She looked horrified. The vampire looked…sad. He looked down, nodded, and looked back up at me with a small, sad smile.

"Well, you're right that we belong in hell," he said, stunning me. "Our kind is an unnatural thing, it goes completely against God. I don't know why we were created, why we're here. I only know that we shouldn't be. But while I am here, I'll make the best of my time by caring for humans instead of killing them."

I couldn't respond. I realized though that I might have made a big mistake when I said what I did.

He stood up. "You rest now, Isabella. I'll seek out Master Jasper"—_Ah! _That's _his name!_—"and inform him that you're awake and make sure he understands your medical needs. Try to go back to sleep if you can, you'll need it."

He turned and began to leave. "Hey!" I called. He stopped at the door, turning back to me and arching an eyebrow. "What's your name?" I asked.

He smiled. "You can call me Carlisle," he said before leaving.

"Bella, that was not very kind what you said," Alisha said in a hushed but fierce tone, sitting on my bed. "I was very surprised he was not angry with it. You're lucky it was only he you said such things to and not Master Jasper."

"I thought you said he was kind," I said bitterly, rolling my eyes.

"He is!" she insisted. "He's kind and forgiving but very intolerant of insubordination."

"Well, that's my middle name, so he better get used to it."

She pursued her lips, examining me for a minute before quietly saying, "Perhaps I should speak with Master Jasper before you do."

I laughed once. "Yeah…. Fair warning, I'm a handful, if you're really stuck on the whole caring for me situation."

She smiled and rested her hand on the top of my head for a second. "Don't worry, Bella. Things will not be as bad as you think. I would really like to be your friend. If you'll accept that relationship with me, I will always be here to help you through whatever you need."

I smiled back at her. "Of course, Alisha, I'd love to have a friend like you here. Thank you so much," I said sincerely.

She nodded and stood up. "Alright, sweet. You just sleep now. You positively do not have to worry about a single thing for at least a week. Actually, I'll be waiting on you for a week." She grinned teasingly. "You'll be so pampered you'll forget where you are."

I gave the lightest laugh I could. _Doubtful_, I though.

She turned to leave, saying over her shoulder, "I let you alone now. Just sleep, you really do need it."

And then I was alone, left to wonder at what horrors that place could hold for me in the future.

**Jasper POV**

_Bella, Bella, Bella…_

I sat in the corner of room, cross-legged on the floor. The room was dark and I was sitting back in the shadows.

I had but one thing on my mind, and that was that human girl I had picked up from the middle-of-nowhere forest. She now held a certain air of mystery that captured my fascination. She had been asleep, and not once had I seen her. I know nothing about her, but I wanted to know everything.

As I sat in the corner, I held a sketch pad while my right hand worked furiously with a pencil. I worked so intently I had already snapped four pencils, I had about two dozen freshly sharpened ones beside me. I kept drawing her. Bella. Since I was clueless on her personality and passed, I sketched her in every different environmental setting I could think of. One thing stayed the same for all pictures, she was utterly beautiful. She was dressed in fine clothes and her hair was fixed, she looked happy and healthy. I drew her this way because it was contrary to her sickly appearance currently. When she felt better, I was sure she would look like my drawings.

There was a knock at my study door, it did not break my concentration for a second. I did not answer to the noise, but the door slowly opened anyway. Carlisle entered into the room, I felt his confusion, at first even he didn't acknowledge me in the dark corner. When he did, he drew back from shock a little. I realized I must have looked perfectly deranged, but still I did glance up at him.

"Yes?"

When Carlisle recovered, he told me, "Isabella is awake now."

"Bella," I murmured,

"Pardon, Major?"

I sighed. "Bella," I repeated. "She likes to be called Bella, I heard her say so."

He nodded. "Of course. Bella, then, is awake now, I thought you would be interested to know. She is going to be just fine. Her pulse is much stronger, she even looks better. It's a bit of a miracle that she survived, and know it looks like she'll recover quickly. But she needs to stay in bed, for a week at least."

"Of course, of course. Alisha will be sure to care for her until she's well enough.

Carlisle suddenly had a bit of a smirk to his expression. A raised a questioning eyebrow. "She's a little spitfire, Major. I just thought I would warn you. I anticipate a bit of a hard time in your future with her. Just remember, human's are sensitive. This environment will naturally scare her, for a while. Be very careful with her."

My eyes narrowed slightly. "Sure, Carlisle. I've only been a vampire for a century and a half specializing in dealing with humans. I've only been pretending to be one and thoroughly succeeding at it for that long. I've only been running this mansion this way for three years. I really do need you telling me how to do everything. Perhaps you should take charge here? You'd be splendid at it."

Carlisle sighed softly, dropping his gaze to the floor. I felt a wave of genuine regret laced with slight anxiety. "I'm sorry, Major. That's not what I meant."

"No, I'm very serious, Carlisle," I persisted. "You could run this place more smoothly than I ever could, couldn't you? You practically keep this place together anyway."

Carlisle briefly closed his eyes. I finally looked up to glare at him. "Leave."

Carlisle shuffled out of the room and closed the door behind him. I went straight back to my sketching.

_Spitfire, eh? _I smirked. _I'll fix that_.

**Dark promises...**

**So, yeah, i had to give you guys that little Jasper bit at the end just because the rest of it was so Jasper-less. **

**Again, so so so sorry for not updating in forever.**

**the chapter's WILL get better.**

**REVIEW PLEASE! the story is just beginning, tell me what you wanna see in future chapters. come on guys, throw me your wildest ideas. **


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